100 Of The Highest-Grossing Movies Ever

Avatar gave us some deep ideas on colonization, presented some groundbreaking filming techniques, and made the Papyrus font unusable in the future for all intents and purposes. James Cameron’s masterpiece made $2,923,706,026 at the box office — twelve times more than its original filming budget of only $237,000,000.

What was it for you that turned Avengers: Endgame into an undying epic? Cap catching Thor’s hammer? His very quiet and yet so powerful, “Avengers, assemble”? Iron Man owning his identity one last time in the face of mortal danger? This installment into the Marvel universe made its original budget in the opening week at the domestic box office and went on to accumulate $2,799,439,100 worldwide.

Whether you are a fan of sequels or not, you have to admit James Cameron managed to do it once again. With this sequel to the 2009 original still running in some cinemas around the world, Avatar: The Way of Water, which tells the “happily ever after” part of the story, has already made $2,217,479,262 worldwide.

Interestingly, in its opening week at the domestic box office, Titanic only made 13% of its budget. Nevertheless, it went on to become a huge success and make $2,218,715,176 worldwide. With James Cameron having recently admitted that Jack could have indeed fitted on that board with Rose, it remains to be seen how the 25th anniversary release will fare at the box office.

Few movies start as many fan feuds as the Star Wars series. And Episode VII - The Force Awakens was no exception. But whether you went to see it to know exactly what to criticize or because you were genuinely interested in the new generation of rebels, the fact remains that in the opening week alone, the first part of the third Star Wars trilogy made its original budget at the domestic box office, and it later went on to collect $2,071,310,218 worldwide.

Admit it, you wiped your tears at least once during the final scenes of Avengers: Infinity War. It was very heartbreaking to see half of your favorite heroes gone in a snap, even though you very well knew they were coming back. The movie went on to make $2,052,415,039 at the box office around the world.

There may be different arguments for and against it, but the latest reboot of the Spider-Man series has definitely got a lot going for it, as proved by Spider-Man: No Way Home, which made $1,921,847,111 worldwide.

Some people never learn from mistakes. And until wealthy entrepreneurs stop trying to rebuild the dinosaur-themed amusement park on that one island, we will continue getting new movies about them. Even though Jurassic World was the fourth film in the franchise, it doubled its budget in the opening week at the domestic box office and made $1,671,537,444 overall.

There might have been tons of arguments about whether everyone’s favorite animated classic needed a live-action remake or not, but the fact remains that a lot of people went to see it. It could have been due to nostalgia or out of curiosity, but even though The Lion King came around $70 million shy of its original budget in its opening week at the domestic box office, it went on to make $1,663,075,401 at the box office.

Technically, it was not the one that started it all, but The Avengers was the first MCU movie that brought all your favorite superheroes together and showed how awesome they are when fighting evil with their powers combined. It almost made its original budget in the opening week at the domestic box office and later went on to make $1,520,538,536 worldwide.

While the Fast & Furious franchise is not exactly intellectual cinema, it does provide some spectacular scenes. Furious 7 almost made its original budget in the opening week at the domestic box office, but later went on to collect $1,520,538,536. It seems like the scene where a race car flew through a skyscraper left a huge impression on audiences.

Top Gun: Maverick is one sequel we didn’t know we needed or wanted, but once it hit the screens, it became a huge hit. It went on to make $1,488,732,821 worldwide, proving once again that Tom Cruise has still got it in him.

Every “happily ever after” has a twist, and even kids’ animation stories are not exempt from it. And just as you were beginning to forget Let It Go, Frozen II hit the theaters. Interestingly, it went on to make even more than the first movie, with an overall box office of $1,453,683,476 worldwide.

By the time Avengers: Age of Ultron hit theaters, most of us were into the MCU up to our eyebrows. That’s why it is not surprising that even though in the opening week at the domestic box office it didn’t quite make the original budget, it eventually brought in $1,405,018,048.

While still hitting all the superhero movie staples, Black Panther was surprisingly fresh and a welcome addition to the MCU. With quite an impressive result in the opening week at the domestic box office, it also went on to make a breathtaking $1,349,926,083 worldwide.

A lot has been said and written about the Harry Potter movie adaptations. And whatever the overall public opinion on this issue may be, there is no denying that each of these movies made quite an impressive amount at the box office, with The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 taking the cake with $1,342,359,942.

Yes, the one where Luke throws his lightsaber away. Apparently, lots of people went to see how he did it, even if to scoff at it later. While the opening week at the domestic box office couldn’t make the original budget by approximately one-third, The Last Jedi made $1,334,407,706 overall worldwide.

It seems like by the time Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom hit the screens, the audience had started growing weary of the same mistake every entrepreneur in that universe makes around the theme park, as the fifth installment in the franchise didn’t quite make as much as its predecessor. Yet, it still collected an impressive amount of $1,310,466,296.

Can you believe that in its opening week at the domestic box office, Frozen only made 0.16% of its original budget? However, what followed later can only be described as a box office takeover. Given the mind-blowing popularity of this animation, we should probably stop wondering how a kids’ movie managed to make $1,284,540,518 worldwide.

When the news of Disney making a live-action of their tale as old as time became known to the wider audience, it caused a lot of arguments as to whether it was called for. Yet, with an overall box office collection of $1,266,115,964, Beauty and the Beast proved once again that we will watch this story in any form and shape.